WonderWorld, an interactive Alice in Wonderland-inspired pop-up shop, has made Hollywood its temporary home. The pop-up, which began in New York City before departing for the City of Angels, occupies a 7,500-square-foot space on the lobby level at 7080 Hollywood Boulevard for a five-month run starting April 10 through August.
Created by Jay Yue, 23, who formerly worked for Citigroup before starting a venture capital fund, Hua Wang, 26, of Eastern Horizon Ventures and Jie Wang, 23, the trio enlisted Joshua Wong, a local L.A. designer, to bring the Hollywood space to life. Mushroom garden? Check. Giant teacups? Why of course. A bubble and balloon-filled swimming pool? Sure, just make sure to dress so there are no wardrobe malfunctions.
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Facing Hollywood Boulevard and steps from the Walk of Fame, the trio rented the location through Ignited Spaces, a coworking space that has a master lease with the landlord, an LLC linked to Jamison Properties, for $50,000 per month. Jamison Properties did not return a call for comment as of publication.
“Hollywood is the place to be for introducing yourself to the West Coast. It’s also the entertainment capital of the world,” Yue told Commercial Observer. “We chose our Hollywood Boulevard location because it’s right on the star walk [Hollywood Walk of Fame] and has a lot of foot and vehicle traffic. It’s one of the biggest tourist locations worldwide and embodies the ideas of fantasy and chasing a dream which is in line with WonderWorld’s theme.”
Originally launched in New York at Andy Warhol’s former loft at 76 Wooster Street from August until early November last year, the pop-up will return to New York, this time in an 8,000-square-foot space at 61 North 9th Street in Brooklyn. The trio is shelling out $40,000 a month for Williamsburg iteration of the pop-up, which will include new themes and installations starting in late June with a run through late November.
